Lubricating system



June 10, 1930. J. J. OBRIEN LUBRICATI'NG SYSTEM Filed April 8. 1927 ATTORNEYS Patented June 10, 1930 JOHN a. OBRIEN, or NosENoNT, r NNsYLVANiAIAssIGNoR, BY MESNE rssremams,

r Moron AND LANE"AccEssoRInsiNc, or-nn raorr, MICHIGAN, A CORPORA- v f TIoN OF DELAWARE L BRi'cA'rme 'sysrEM Application filed-April s, 192?. S erial No. 131,907.

This invention relates to lubricating systerns by which asupply of-lubricant, such as oil, maintained at acentral point may be distributed in suitable quantities to a number ofdifierent elements at a distance from the supply,.which require lubrication. More particularly, the'invention is concerned with a system especially adapted forwuse. in a motor car and includinga central reservoir andrlines leading therefromto the difierent parts ofrthe car which require lubrication,

such. as the spring shackles and the, like.

An adaptation of the invention suitable for this purpose will accordingly be described, though it is to be understoodthat the utility of the system is by no meansplimited to that particular use. Y

In the modern motor car therearemany points on the. chassis which have more or less. movement when the car 1s 1n operation and therefore require continual lubrication. Heretofore the oiling or lubr cation of these parts has in some instances been accom-f plished by the use of oil or grease cups, re-' quiring constant'replenishment andattention, and as these cups. are frequently placed.

at points such that they are accessible only with difiicult'y, it is a laborious operationtov keep the cups filled and in operating conditlon. .Asa consequence, one for more of these cups are frequently overlooked and .5 provision" of anoiling system for. use in run dry, thus resulting in the car Wearing rapidly and also, becoming noisy. Attemptshave. been, made vto tems connected, to a; central reservoir and, leading to the differentipoints wherelubrication is required, and in some of these sys tems the distribution of the oil is accomplished by means 101?. pump of-suitable formwhichis operatedat intervals by the driver. While these systems simplifythe supplying of oil, 1 the central reservoir not only requires replenishment from time to time, but the actual supplying of the oil'dependson the manipulation of the pumplby V solve this problem vbyythe installation of piping sy s motor cars," Whichisentirely automatic in operation, which isbrought into action to supply lubricant to the: parts which require it whenever the motoris operated, and which automatically stops the delivery of the lubricant-.;w hen the .moto'r i's stopped; In this tendiuains' or conduits leading 'to the dif-&

This reservoir is ferent delivery points.

capable of. beingseale'd and is placed be accessible "and yet unnoticeable. The conduits are oil-tight and preferablyinclude a fibrous strand or wi'ckingwhich extends.

from the reservoir to thefldelivery point where thestrand maybe in contact, if de- 1 sired, with the surface to be lubricated:

The tank is placed in such position that it is exposed .toheatlde'veloped by the engin'e when the latter is 'operatlng and. preferably the-tank is. water-jacketed and mounted so that the ;.water-.jacket forms a part of the line between the waterjaoketofthe engine and the. radiaton; Accordingly, when the motor is in operation, water circulating neath 'the hood or the car, whereit is readily through the system flows'through the. jacket around 'thetank and the oil becomes heated.

When the motor is; stopped; thefiow of' water-ceasesandthetank cools; Q

- Inkoperation a quantitya'of oil" is placed in the .'-reservoir and the latteris then sealed;

The heat developed by them'otor when oper ating; is transmittedby the waterto' the contents of the and heats the. oil there in and also any airwhiclr lies above the sur- 31061; of. theg'oil. The heat/thus applied causes anexpansionof thefiuid withinthe tank, and -'--this pressure-starts the" flow of oil-through the conduits'.- The oil j flow is inpart, duel'to capillary action through the strand a'nd after; a short period of .-motor' operation, oil is flowing through the entire .strand fito the delivery: points The heat or the motor 'causingtheexpansion of ,the; fluid 1 and the gene'ration of pressurerin..the tank notonly; starts thefiow of oil,'-but facilia f tates theflow in th at it: renders the oil-more fluent. Theflow of oil through'the conduits continues sol long as the; motor is in operathe strand is now prevented by the vaccuum action and no flow occurs while the motor is at rest, or else flow is permitted to so limited an extent that no waste of any consequence occurs.

A systemoperating in accordance with the principles of the invention is entirely automatic, and the only attention required is the occasional replenishment of the oil. Owing to the fact that the oil is delivered to the points which require lubrication with a slow but continuous flow throughout the operation of the motor, these parts are thoroughly lubricatedwhen the car is in use without waste or dripping, Also, by placing the tank adjacent the radiator, the connections are simplified and the tank and its acket may be constructed conveniently as an integral extension from the chamber at the top of the radiator.

For a better understanding or" the invention, reference may be had'to the accomshowing the installation of tem, l

panying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a plan View, largely diagrammatic, of a portion of a motor car chassis,

parts of the sys- V Fig. 2 is a side view, partly in section, showing the details of the system, 7 r

Fig. 3 1s a sectional view on an enlarged scale, showing the main reservoir and its connections, taken on the line 33 of Fig. Fig. 2-,

, Fig. ,4 is a view in elevation of a spring shackle.illustrating'the manner of supplying lubricant thereto, and

Fig. is antenltrged. sectional View of a connection in the conduit line.' i

Tn the drawings, the motor car chassis is illustrated conventionally, the chassis including side frame members 10 of the usual channel section connected by crossinembers 111 of which only. one 1s shown. The car has the usual motor 12-having a water jack-' etfrom whichconnection 13 leads to the chamber 14 at'the top of the radiator 15; At the'bottom of the radiator is a connection 16 leading to; the enginewater jacket, and

in this-connection may be a pump. 17 ofany suitable form to assist in the hind the radiator is mountedthe usual oil flow. Be-

x The different parts of the car, such as the spring shacklesaiid the like, which re quire lubrication are supplied with v lubricantfrom atmain'reservoir or tank 19*havingfacover 20:1hy which the tank may be tightly-sealed, this cover havingia. filler opening: provided with a cap The tank Fig. 2, the tank occupies a space beneath the hood not otherwise used, and the tank is. readily accessible for refilling. At the same time the connections are simplified the cost of installation much reduced, and the tank is thoroughly heated by the direct flow of hot water through its acket.

The cover of the tank is provided with one or more tubes 23 generally of siphon form, these tubes passing from within the tank at a point near the bottom thereof and below the normal liquid level up through the top, then downwardly below the tank to connect with an oil conduit 24 mounted on a side member of the-chassis. Ordinarily each side member will carry a conduit 24 which has branches leading to the different points where lubrication is required, and a single tube 23 may supply oil to theselmes by a cross connection. Instead of that arrangement, two tubes 23-may be employed, one leading to each of the main longitudinal lines 24.

' Within the tube 23 is a conducting strand 2-5 which is preferably of a fibrous material such as cotton gauze fabric of the type known as bandage material, asbestos rope, and various other materials of that kind. The purpose of this strand or wick is to provide a conducting medium through which the oil may flow by capillary attraction and numerous materials suitable for the purpose and similar to those mentioned will be recognized as useful for" the purpose. This strand 'should substantially fill the tube in which it is placed and is preferably loosely matted together. I

Such a strand asthis is placed in the tube 23 which has a siphon form-,- also in the main. lines 24%, and in the branch lines leading from the main lines to the points where lubrication is required. An end of the-strand 26 may project beyond the intake end of the siphon tube 23- in the oil tank, and this strand leads through the siphon tube to the pointrwhere that tube is connected by a T 27 to one of the main conduits 28. Within the conduit 28 is another strand 29 similar to the strand and in contact withthe end thereof, so that oil may flow freely from one. strand to the other. Simi lar strands are placed in the branch lines with their ends in contact with the strand 29 and these strands in the branch line may project slightly beyond the ends of the lines I and contact with the surfaces where the oil 7 heat is transferred to the oil and air within is to be delivered. This arrangement is shown in Fig. 4, where the branch line leads to the shackle bolt 31 which has an opening 32 in which the end of the strand may extend. The end of'the strand bears against the surface ofthe bolt, as illustrated, to deliver oil thereto and the shackle may be drilled lengthwise, as'shown at 33 to deliver oil to the bearing in which the lower bolt 34 is mounted. A similar arrangement maybe used at other places 'onthe chassis where oil is required, the filament or strand preferably extending out of the tube a slight distance andcontacting with the surface over which the oil is to be distributed.

In the system as described, a quantity of oil is maintained in the pressure'tank and air is trapped above the oil when the tank is sealed. \Vhen the. motor is started and the hot water in the cooling system flows through the water jacket around the tank,

the tank and the oil and air expand and pressure is generated; The pressure causes oil to be forced out of the tank through the tubes 23 and so long as the motor is operating and thereis pressure in the tank, the flow of oil continues. This flow may .in'part be" assisted by capillary action in the strand.

The oil flows through the delivery lines to the surfaces to be lubricated and the'delivery of oil is slow but continuous. The strand within each line is permeated with oil and the delivery of oil at the bearings isto some eirten't dependent on the rate at which oil is taken from the end of the strand anddistributed over the surfaces which require it.

WVhen the motor is shut down and cools off, the temperature of the contents of the tank is lowered and since some oil has been discharged from the tank, a partial vacuum created. This tends to draw oil back through the delivery lines into the'tank but the vacuum is broken in the course of time by air which flows back through the line into. the tank. The j partial vacuum tends to retract oil from'the ends of the delivery lines and in actual operation, the ends of the strands at theendsof the linesare fairly 1 dry during theperiod :when' the tank is cooled after a period of operation. The system, it will be. observed, isautomatic in operation and theonly attention required is for the. replenishment of oil from time to time. "By mounting the; tank in such a way that its water jacket forms a part ofthe connections lnthe water ClI'Cll ,lating system, with the-tank preferably' placed between the engine and theradiator,

soon as the motor operates, and 'thus the system comes at oncemto actlon as the car 13 used. In most automobiles as now constructed, the radiator is prov ded vwith-a saidconnections' for the flow of water'beis shut down.

chamber at top so arranged that the tank and its water 'jacket may be mounted toform an integral part thereof. This simplifies the piping connections and-places the; ta nk at apoint where it readily; accessible.

At the same time the tankis out of the way and does not occupy spacewhich would or-. 7

'dinarily'be used for other'purposes; The

cost of installation of the system is relatively j low, andas the oil is conducted throughthe stranchthe oil lines do nothave to be absolutely oil-tight. If'a breakage occurs in anytime and this oil is entirely taken up by the strand. Forthis reason the system differs in important respects from similar systems in which lubricant is distributed through lines apuinpoperated by the cant at all times. .In thepresent system, since the oil is delivered only insmall quantities a'reativel y smallsize tank will' contain all the oil'needed for a long period of use. I claim: f I U f t. In a motor car, the combinationwith the v water-jacketed engine, of a" radiator, connections between the top of the radiator and the engine, jacket, a sealed tank-for oil mounted betweenthe engine and the radiator a'nd-having a jacket-forming a part of tween the enginejacket and radiator in 'heat exchange relationship to the contents of the tan and a conduit for oil" leading from the tank to the parts ofthe car requiring lubricatiomjthe flow of water-through the tank jacket delivering heat tothe contents of the driver, and all the lines are filled withlubritank-when thecar is-in'operation which develops pressurem. the; tank initiating. the

flow of oil, the oil flow; being stopped when, the pressure is released due to the cooling of the contents of thetank when the engine 1.2. In a motor car the 'water-jacketed engine, of a radiator,- connections between the", radiatorjand'. @the;

exchange relationship to the :contents of the the combination witlil n; 2:. engine acket,:a' sealed tank for oil mounted,

to form fianextension.of the radiator and f V having a jacket for the flow of water betank, anda 'conduit foroilleading frbm the tank to the par-tsofgthecarrequiring lubrication, thefiow'ofjwater throughthe tank jacket delivering heat tof the contents of the tank when the engine is in'operation which develops pressure in the tank initiating theflowof Oil, the oil flow being stopped when the pressureis released, due to the cooling."

of the'contents of the tankwhen the engine?v .1130

is shut downf s In a motor car, the combination of a water-jacketed engine, a radiator, connections between the radiator and the engine jacket, a sealed tank for oil mounted between the engine'and the radiator and having a jacket forming part of thesaid connections through which water flows in heat exchange relationship to the contents of the tank, a 'conduitfor oil having an intake end within the tank near the bottom thereof and extending above the liquidlevel in the tank and leading to a point below the tank level, a line connecting the conduit with a point on the car which requires lubrication, and a strand within the conduit and line serving as a conductor for oil, the delivery of heat to the contents of the'tank upon the initiationofengine operation generating pressure within the tank which starts the flow of oil through the strand the release of pressure due to the cooling 0t the tank upon stoppage of the motor, serving to stop the further how of oil through the strand.

i. In a motor car, the combination of an engine, having a Water jacket, a radiator, connections between the radiator and the engine acket, a sealed tank for oil mounted to form an extension of the radiator at the top thereof, this tank having a jacket through which water flows between the engine jacket and the radiator in heat exchange relationship with the contents of the tank, a conduit for oil leading from a point in the tank below the normal liquid level to a point above the said level and then downwardiy below the tank, a line leading from the conduit to the points on the car which require lubrication, a strand extending through the conduit and the line, this strand being of loosely matted material'and serving as a conductor for the oil through which the oil may flow in part by capillary attraction, the flow of oil being initiated by the transfer of heat to the contents of the tank whenthe motor is started resulting in the generation of pressure in the tank, and the flow ofoil being stopped when the motor Iisstopped by the release of pressure due to the coolin or" the tank contents.

In testimony: whereof I afiix my signature.

JOHNJ. OBRIEN. I 

